# NY-ESO-1 c259 T-cell receptor therapy in synovial sarcoma: prolonged persistence and antitumour activity

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-dangelo-ny-eso-1-tcr-synovial-sarcoma-cancer-discov-2018/  
OnCo record `paper-dangelo-ny-eso-1-tcr-synovial-sarcoma-cancer-discov-2018` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Engineering patients' own T cells with a receptor recognising the NY-ESO-1 antigen shrank tumours in half of a small group with advanced synovial sarcoma, the first convincing evidence that T-cell receptor therapy can work in a solid tumour.

## Summary

Pilot study of 12 patients with HLA-A*02-positive, NY-ESO-1-expressing advanced synovial sarcoma treated with autologous T cells transduced with an affinity-enhanced NY-ESO-1 c259 T-cell receptor after lymphodepleting chemotherapy.

Objective response was 50 percent including one complete response, with responses associated with T-cell persistence and higher lymphodepletion intensity; toxicity included cytokine release syndrome and cytopenias.

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-09-17
- Journal: Cancer Discovery
- Year: 2018
- DOI: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-17-1417
- Authors: D'Angelo SP, Melchiori L, Merchant MS, et al.
- Findings: Objective response 6 of 12 patients (50 percent), one complete response.; Response correlated with T-cell persistence and lymphodepletion dose.
- What it means: This study opened the path to engineered T-cell receptor therapy in synovial sarcoma, leading to afamitresgene autoleucel targeting MAGE-A4 (SPEARHEAD-1) and its approval in 2024.
- Caveats: Twelve patients; requires HLA-A*02 and antigen expression.

## Sources

- Cancer Discov 2018: https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.CD-17-1417
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29891538/

## Connected records

- cancers: [Synovial sarcoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/synovial-sarcoma/)
- journals: [Cancer Discovery](https://onco.cc/journals/cancer-discovery/)

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